Rozaria could not hold back the smile that fought to show. The cakes were made with a special Kalorian ingredient: deadly jungle seeds.
The first man to sputter and cough fell to his knees. Then a second. Now a third. The final man who’d taken a cake looked at Rozaria with dread in his eyes, having figured out the truth. He went for his dagger, rushing at her, but suddenly gasped and looked down at a small hand around his ankle. Rozaria’s hooded companion had moved from her hidden spot behind a tree to grasp him. The man tipped like a stiff tree and landed, dead.
A few of the men still shuddered, convulsing, as the hooded girl stood and moved to Rozaria’s side.
“I will write their final words. Grab one of their daggers and stab each of them through. Hurry, while their blood is still warm.”
The girl obeyed. Rozaria took parchment and a piece of chalk from her cloak pocket, crouching over to block the rain. Her plan was working even better than she could have imagined. Soon, it would be time.
Chapter
28
At the moment, Tiern couldn’t help but wonder why he wasn’t more like Paxton. They had the same parents, the same bloodline, the same job and pastimes. So why was Paxton broad with muscle and tough as steel, while he was thin, chattering his teeth against the cold like a child?
These were Tiern’s musings as he followed Paxton, trying to think about anything but the cold, and not able to keep up with the findings of their trackings. He should have listened to Pax when he told him to stay. They’d only been hiking uphill a couple hours and it was obvious Tiern was a worthless tagalong. He did his best to keep up and stay out of the way, silently.
Every so often they detoured when someone spotted tracks or broken debris. Tiern kept to the side. A hearty gust of frozen wind broke through the trees, sending pine needles shooting down at the men. Tiern stumbled and felt his boot sink into something soft. He immediately recognized the squelch of scat underfoot. He shook off his foot and peered down in the dark. It was the largest pile of animal excrement he’d ever seen, and he had to cover his nose against the vile smell.
“Pax . . .”
His brother and Harrison turned. The three of them squatted over the spot and the Ascomannians stopped to watch.
Paxton’s palm hovered over the pile. “Still warm on the inside.” He then poked it with a stick and raised it to his nose. “Has the smell and texture of a carnivore. Too large to be a bear’s.”
Harrison clapped Tiern on the back, nearly toppling him. “Well done!”
Yes, well done stepping in shite, Tiern thought to himself.
Paxton stood and looked to the men from the coldlands. “We’re on the right track.”
Lief grinned. At that precise moment the sky gave an ominous rumble and another gust of wind ripped through the trees.
“Sky’s about to blow,” muttered Harrison.
Lief cursed. “Let’s hope not. It’ll cover the beast’s tracks.”
It got darker and colder. Tiny thunks began from afar, moving closer through the woods, and something pelletlike hit Tiern on top of his head. One landed on his shoulder and he plucked it off—a ball of ice.
“High seas, it’s hailing,” Tiern said. They got hail very rarely, maybe once a year during the winter in his seaside town. To see it in the fall was strange. But then again, he was many miles from home and at a higher elevation.
“We keep moving,” Lief told his men.
Paxton leveled Tiern with a questioning look, not moving.
“I’m fine. Let’s go.” Indeed, Tiern felt renewed after discovering the beast’s scat, and was almost numb to the elements now.
They marched on for ten minutes, faces lowered. The stinging pellets began to let up, becoming something worse. Something wetter. Freezing rain.
Within minutes it was pouring, a mix of ice and rain that soaked them through.
“Curse it all,” Paxton muttered. He glanced at Tiern, brown hair stuck to his face. “Do you need to stop?”
“No!” Tiern shouted. He was sick of Paxton assuming he needed babying. Tiern hated that his brother could so easily sense his weakness. Tiern surged past, hitting Pax with his numb shoulder. The Ascomannians were already a fair distance ahead. Tiern picked up his pace, thankful for the burst of angry energy.
They moved briskly through the mud, keeping their heads down. At this point, no signs of the beast could be found on the ground. Every ten feet or so, Tiern raised his head to peer around at the foliage and trees for broken limbs or trampled bushes. The incline gradually steepened, becoming rockier. To their left, through a cluster of trees, Tiern could see the rise of cliffs.
A cry sounded from behind him. Tiern spun, his heart in his throat, expecting to see the beast. But it was Harrison, slumped over.
Paxton knelt beside him. “Is it your ankle?”
Harrison nodded, sucking air through his teeth. “Twisted it. Slipped on a cursed rock.” Harrison tried to stand and winced as he put weight on the leg.